brummie

Good one for me to miss Right. Outside, NOW, bitch

Sounds good Nah, sounds bad to me, I was looking forward to a lunchtime session THEN the match, not the other way around. Still, better than not starting till the Sunday or the Monday.

I've heard the first live game is Villa v Liverpool at 12.45 on the opening day.

Not being a good penalty taker won't be a problem, we've got Gareth Barry to handle those. Seems a slightly harsh criticism of him, to be honest. Put it this way - he's replacing Gavin McCann. If anyone can tell me that doesn't represent siginificant progress, I'll eat my hat. And yours. Ha ha my £50 get safer by the week. No chance. Put a few quid aside every week then you won't feel the pain so much.

What, like Joey Barton? Another temperamental but promising midfielder with a dodgy rep? Fact is that this summer there were three midfielders moving around at (very roughly) the same price - Barton, Parker and NRC. I said a while back I'd have been happy with Barton or NRC, they're both good players. Reo-Coker was playing at an absolute basket case of a club last year, so it is very hard to judge him on that. He got a lot of stick from their fans, but then again, to be honest, a five minute glance at kumb will tell you all you need to know about West Ham fans. These are the same fans who told us that the reason Ashley Young chose Villa over West Ham (despite them apparently offering him something like 10k a week more) was that he had a major problem with the dressing room politics there, and that the main problem was NRC in particular. Something which clearly wasn't borne out during the U21 championship when you could tell they were obviously close (post match interviews, body language on the pitch etc) Anyway, I'm just glad we've signed him. Apparently, SWP is currently choosing between us and them, too, so hopefully he'll come down on the side of the righteous as well. I really can't stand West Ham. And yes, the fee is a little on the high side, but what's the point in having these billionaire owners if you don't get them to push the boat out every now and then? You are giving NRC far too much credit to mention him in the same sentence as Barton IMHO, and i said the same before any of the 3 moved clubs, and nothing has changed. He has a big chip on his shoulder ATM, and even when thats gone the talent is only worth about half of the money Villa have paid. I still think he's a good player in there, but he's a long way off Barton's standard, and right now out of the 3 clubs trading, NUFC got the best deal, and i honestly think WHU came in second by a country mile getting Parker in and NRC out for daft money. Can't agree, I'd have been much more worried if we'd bought Parker. As for Barton ... as I said, I think he's a good player, but perhaps Dr Spectrum would shed some light on what he was like last season (as we're talking about NRC having a poor season last year).

You're right about lacking depth, but to say the defence is fragile is wrong. Only 5 teams conceded fewer goals than us last season - hardly that fragile, and if we can get a right back in, we're sorted. Our problem was at the other end of the pitch.

Not being a good penalty taker won't be a problem, we've got Gareth Barry to handle those. Seems a slightly harsh criticism of him, to be honest. Put it this way - he's replacing Gavin McCann. If anyone can tell me that doesn't represent siginificant progress, I'll eat my hat. And yours.

What, like Joey Barton? Another temperamental but promising midfielder with a dodgy rep? Fact is that this summer there were three midfielders moving around at (very roughly) the same price - Barton, Parker and NRC. I said a while back I'd have been happy with Barton or NRC, they're both good players. Reo-Coker was playing at an absolute basket case of a club last year, so it is very hard to judge him on that. He got a lot of stick from their fans, but then again, to be honest, a five minute glance at kumb will tell you all you need to know about West Ham fans. These are the same fans who told us that the reason Ashley Young chose Villa over West Ham (despite them apparently offering him something like 10k a week more) was that he had a major problem with the dressing room politics there, and that the main problem was NRC in particular. Something which clearly wasn't borne out during the U21 championship when you could tell they were obviously close (post match interviews, body language on the pitch etc) Anyway, I'm just glad we've signed him. Apparently, SWP is currently choosing between us and them, too, so hopefully he'll come down on the side of the righteous as well. I really can't stand West Ham. And yes, the fee is a little on the high side, but what's the point in having these billionaire owners if you don't get them to push the boat out every now and then?

It looks like the names of Northumbria buses latest batch of new drivers. Ah, you too have the Eastern European bus drivers thing going on? You'll struggle to find one from further west than Krakow down here. Bless.

you can come back once you PROMISE to stop playing music when a goal is scored and cut out that "running up and down the touchline waving flags" nonsense.

http://www.avfc.premiumtv.co.uk/javaImages/da/73/0,,10265~3306458,00.jpg Not the most revealing of teasers, but I note with pleasure that they appear to have got the colour of the claret right, something which previous manufacturers had a problem with. Also, small lion on back at top of shirt. Interesting.

Nope. It all happened pretty quickly. We knew he was going to try to get shot of Baros at the earliest opportunity but there was pretty much no word of it being Carew, all happened pretty quickly.

Many BWFC supporters were very disgruntled with the football we played under Big Sam. At best it was functional and regimented, at worst it was absolutely dire. True we were successful but crowds have fallen steadily and in part this can be attributed to the football we played sometimes. I think Big Sam did an excellent job at Bolton, and I reckon he'll be a good appointment for Newcastle, but I have to say, the football Bolton played at our place last season was the worst I've seen in a long time, constant niggling and physical stuff plus the long ball at every opportunity. Having said that, you absolutely mugged us for the three points, so it clearly works. I think he's one of those managers who cuts his cloth accordingly, and we'll see a different approach at Newcastle.

No chance, we sent him back from his loan period early and actually played Hughes ahead of him towards the end (harsh on the lad, but he really wasn't much of an improvement tbh)

I suspect this is press conjecture. Fucking annoying but MON seems to have a policy of not letting a whiff of transfers appear before they're signed and in the shirt (witness Carew appearing from nowhere in January). I know this is the sensible way to do it, but it is fucking annoying. We let Aaron Hughes go last week (ha, that sounds like it was reluctant) leaving the possibly-never-playing-again Mark Delaney as our only right back. This for me suggests he's already got a replacement sewn up, rather than about to get into a tug of war style situation where we may end up without a RB.

Never that simple though, is it. I bet West Ham are saying that too. I bet someone nobody predicted does really well next season, and someone will surprise us by getting relegated (or close to it).

We're copying Spurs. Talking of Spurs, I love the way that every single time any one of Newcastle, Villa or Everton is linked with a player, at a late point in proceedings, Spurs are said to have stepped in, and we're all supposed to act like Barcelona have just made an offer of twice as much and double the wages.

Don't understand. You've already got two strikers better than Gudjohnssen, and both of them are way way better than Alan Smith. Release clauses or no release clauses, I'd like to think SA tried to hold on to them. PS I haven't read the whole thread, so apols if I am missing something.

Official "themes", FFS. We'll all be having people running up and down with flags and bits of James Brown played when we score next, like Bolton.

See, if you support a club that doesn't have rivals *in the same city* you're more likely to have that kind of approach, but if you share your city with a rival (or in our case, two), the idea of having the gurning, knuckle-dragging, under-evolved scum anywhere near your historic ground is about as appealing as a jab up the shitter with a red hot poker, no matter what kind of financial sense it may make. I don't even like having them here for the derby game, let alone have them playing their home games there. Actually, cup semi finals and the sight of the Holte End full of, say, Man United supporters used to make me come out in hives. The very notion of the bluescum there is just too awful to consider. So, all in all, that's a "no" from me.

Not to mention the sheer fucking piss take of calling it "My Saturday Self" when, due to them selling the heart of the game to Sky, fans are just as likely to be hearing the song played at Sunday lunchtime, Sunday afternoon, Monday afternoon, Wednesday afternoon etc etc etc.

Dont knock it till you've tried it. I'm doing several rocks a day at the moment just to cope with the tedium of the close season, tbh I knew that when you posted that Villa would finish above us next season I've had a wager concerning that with Parky. He's been PMing me begging me to reduce the amount or call off the bet, but I'm not having it.

Dont knock it till you've tried it. I'm doing several rocks a day at the moment just to cope with the tedium of the close season, tbh

Take this in good heart, but anyone who thinks a manager is going to join a club, build a new squad, build his own backroom team, and finish fourth (whilst all the time in the background the entire management and board of the club is changing) in one season has clearly been smoking crack.

At least it looks different. I hate identikit stadia. Depends what it looks like inside, mind.